Anyone who lives with and loves dogs knows there’s no better way to unwind from a hard day or combat life’s large and small setbacks than with a canine cuddle session. Dogs pick up on our emotions and, in their own ways, offer solace and diversion.

This ability, which we value so highly in the ordinary circumstances of our daily lives, is of even more significance during extraordinary times and in difficult circumstances. Rachel McPherson, founder and executive director of The Good Dog Foundation (and one of Bark’s 100 Best & Brightest), is intimately acquainted with the valuable work dogs do — helping children with autism; comforting the sick, the lonely and the traumatized; and providing assistance for those with physical challenges. In Every Dog Has a Gift, McPherson not only shares insights from her own experiences, she also collects the stories of others who have been helped and healed by dogs.

Before creating the foundation, McPherson was a film and television producer well-known for her documentaries. In fact, it was while producing a documentary on therapy dogs that she fell in love with her subject — and the rest, as they say, is history (read more at thegooddogfoundation.org).

The stories in this book will touch your heart, inspire you and make you smile in recognition of all the ways dogs save and heal us. For many of the troubles that ail us, “dog medicine” is the best medicine of all, and in this book, you’ll meet some terrific practitioners.